Trial reportInternational journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases2023
The effect of BCG vaccination on infection and antibody levels against SARS-CoV-2-The results of ProBCG: a multicenter randomized clinical trial in Brazil.
Trial report in International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04659941 (Use of BCG Vaccine as a Preventive Measure for COVID-19 in Health Care Workers), which is not on this map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Use of BCG Vaccine as a Preventive Measure for COVID-19 in Health Care Workers
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Optimising COVID-19 episode identification using serology and PCR/rapid antigen testing: insights from the BRACE trial.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Trial
- Unleashing the power of the BCG vaccine in modulating viral immunity through heterologous protection: A scoping review.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2025Article
- Review
- Beyond Tuberculosis: The Surprising Immunological Benefits of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) Vaccine in Infectious, Auto-Immune, and Inflammatory Diseases.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Long-term immune changes after COVID-19 and the effect of BCG vaccination and latent infections on disease severity.Clinical & translational immunology · 2025Article
- Review
- Late in the US pandemic, multi-dose BCG vaccines protect against COVID-19 and infectious diseases.iScience · 2024Article
- The Influence of Cross-Reactive T Cells in COVID-19.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- Host Genetic Background Influences BCG-Induced Antibodies Cross-Reactive to SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein.Vaccines · 2024Article
- Using BCG vaccination to protect against COVID-19: when reality fails to meet expectation.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2024Article
- Diverse interactions ofFrontiers in tuberculosis · 2024Review
- Bacterial-induced or passively administered interferon gamma conditions the lung for early control of SARS-CoV-2.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Interpreting the Results of Trials of BCG Vaccination for Protection Against COVID-19.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2023Review
- Excluding Participants With Mycobacteria Infections From Clinical Trials: A Critical Consideration in Evaluating the Efficacy of BCG Against COVID-19.Journal of Korean medical science · 2023Review
- BCG mediated protection of the lung against experimental SARS-CoV-2 infection.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- Two issues should be noted when designing a clinical trial to evaluate BCG effects on COVID-19.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
23 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesEvatuate if Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine could be used as a tool against SARS-CoV-2 based on the concept of trained immunity.
methodsA multicenter, double-blinded, randomized clinical trial recruited health care workers (HCWs) in Brazil. The incidence rates of COVID-19, clinical manifestations, absenteeism, and adverse events among HCWs receiving BCG vaccine (Moreau or Moscow strains) or placebo were compared. BCG vaccine-mediated immune response before and after implementing specific vaccines for COVID-19 (CoronaVac or COVISHIELD) was analyzed. Cox proportional hazard and linear mixed effect modeling were used.
resultsA total of 264 volunteers were included for analysis (BCG = 134 and placebo = 130). The placebo group presented a COVID-19 cumulative incidence of 0.75% vs 0.52% of BCG. The Moreau strain also presented a higher incidence rate (1.60% × 0.22%). BCG did not show a protective hazard ratio against COVID-19. In addition, the log (immunoglobulin G) level against SARS-CoV-2 presented a higher increase in the BCG group, whether or not participants had COVID-19, but also without statistical significance.
conclusionOur results suggest that BCG has a tendency of protection against SARS-CoV-2 and higher immunoglobulin G levels than placebo. The clinical trial was registered at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ (NCT04659941).
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.